The autumn leaves are falling like rain. Although my neighbors are all barbarians and you, you are a thousand miles away, there are always two cups at my table.

T’ang Dynasty poem

Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter. If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, this is the best season of your life.

~ Wu-men ~

Thursday, May 26, 2016

The Other Lineage of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

The Gracies aren't the only lineage of BJJ. There are also the students of Oswaldo Fadda. At BJJ Eastern Europe, there is a post about this other lineage. An excerpt is below. The full post may be read here.

History of Fadda and Gracie BJJ

With the rise of Royce Gracie with the early UFC, Gracie has been the
only real popular name to become synonymous with BJJ. The history
behind Brazilian Jiu Jitsu actually has two sides to it. Those who
follow this history have even compared these styles of BJJ to the Sith
vs Jedi.

Those who have trained for a while have come to view leg locks as a
taboo or a cheap way of winning. In all, this is just a point of view;
it has more to do with a safety issue and knowledge of technique which
we will get into in a whole other discussion.

The person that led this non Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was Oswaldo
Fadda. He was born on Jan. 15, 1921 in an area known as Bento Ribiero
(suburban area of Rio de Janerio), Brazil. He didn’t begin studying BJJ
until he met Luis França who was a black belt under the famous Mitsuyo Maeda (a black belt master in Judo).

As time went on Fadda consistently trained with França and earned his black belt.

During this time Gracie Jiu Jitsu exploded and became sport for the
rich because of the high tuition costs. Fadda believed that Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu was to be shared with the all since it had such an impact on
the betterment of his life. At the expense of his own wellbeing began
teaching all over Brazil without a tuition cost. This meant people from
poorer areas such as “favela” (translation shanty town) could train.
Brazilians with disabilities such as: mental instability, physical
deformation, and many other issues could partake in learning BJJ! Anyone
that trains or has trained knows that you become a better person
and everything in life becomes enhanced, Fadda knew this.

As time went on, Fadda was able to create his own school and began
specializing his students in a style of Jiu Jitsu which was often
ignored by the Gracie family, foot locks. After rigorously training his
students, Fadda then became confident enough to challenge the Gracie
family to a tournament.

The famous quote from Fadda himself was “We
wish to challenge the Gracie’s, we respect them like the formidable
adversaries they are but we do not fear them. We have 20 pupils ready
for the dispute”

Many who know this history have their own view, but my view has always been the classic David vs Goliath.

The challenge was brought forth to
the Grand-master himself, Hélio Gracie who accepted without hesitation.
The tournament was to be held at the Gracie Academy in Rio de Janerio.
Fadda’s team emerged victorious with the foot lock specialization
practiced day in and day out. Fadda also became the first person in
history to defeat Hélio Gracie himself.